Author: Peter Podbrežnik
Artist: Jade Warrior
Label: Island Records
Released: 1974
Length: 36:04
Rating: 5/5
Legendary British musical experimenters Jade Warrior opened a new chapter in their career with »Floating World«. This classic of progressive rock, world music and ambient rock came about right when the band’s contract with Vertigo, the label that had put out their previous three albums, ran out. After the end of their US tour in 1972 they split up, and that would have been the end of the road for them if the legendary Steve Winwood (Spencer Davis Group, Traffic, Blind Faith) hadn’t talked Island founder Chris Blackwell into giving them a listen. Blackwell liked what he heard, so he offered flutist/percussionist Jon Field and guitarist/percussionist Tony Duhig a deal for the next three albums, on the condition that they switch completely to instrumental music. That meant singer and bassist Glyn Havard, who wasn’t offered a contract with Island, was automatically out.
»Floating World« thus became the first Jade Warrior record under the command of the Field-Duhig duo, with help from numerous guest musicians. At this stage of their career, Jade Warrior went all in on instrumental progressive rock with elements of world music and ambient, a direction they’d already been drifting toward on the previous three releases, which were nevertheless a lot more rock-oriented. On »Floating World«, alongside Brian Eno (ex-Roxy Music), they became pioneers of what would later be recognized as ambient and world music, because on top of the standard classical and jazz influences they experimented with the sounds of ‘exotic’-flavored percussion from the Far East. »Floating World« was a concept album, however strange that may seem, given that it’s an instrumental record, except for the closing piece »Quba«, which features guest female vocals by Martha Mdenge.
The concept is inspired by the Japanese philosophy of ukiyo, which grew out of the urbanized Japanese way of life and whose cornerstone is the message to ‘live for the moment’. This philosophy of hedonism spread, in the late samurai era and right up to the end of the 19th century, mainly among the middle class, taking in samurai, geishas, sumo wrestlers, merchants, kabuki theater actors and prostitutes. Most of the pieces on »Floating World« try, with more or less success, to conjure up the atmosphere of that period in Japan. Along the way, the multi-instrumentalist duo often manage to create an authentic East Asian (not necessarily Japanese) ambient, mostly thanks to Field’s varied arsenal of exotic percussion.
On »Floating World« and most of the subsequent Jade Warrior« albums, it’s all about numerous, constantly shifting ambient layers, with the duo experimenting with unpredictable guitar, keyboard and flute variations and a vividly colorful percussion game, as you can clearly hear on the opening »Clouds I«, where, after some initial ‘dragging’, an uplifting, ethereal mood only emerges at the very end. »Mountain Of Fruit And Flowers« has a gorgeous mix of ambient drapes over playful flute flourishes and complex guitar improvisations, and despite the complex structure it holds on to an ethereal central melody.
»Waterfall« lives up to its title with a deeply relaxing atmosphere, its delicate calm cut only by Duhig’s sharp guitar passages, which makes it a proper ambient treat and one of the best moments on »Floating World«. The meditative exotica of the Far East comes courtesy of wonderfully layered percussion, keeping company with a mischievous flute. »Red Lotus« is by far the loudest and most rock-leaning piece on the album: backed by a ruffled flute, thunderous, almost hard-rock guitar passages rule the roost, and it’s not hard to picture the mood of a samurai duel to them. Somewhere in the middle of the track Duhig ‘goes off into his own movie’ and spices the whole thing up with a crazy guitar solo.
»Clouds II« is a short ambient continuation of »Clouds I« and can also be listened to as an intro to the airy »Rainflower«, where subtle guitar variations reign over lovely, ethereal shades. »Easty« boasts the enigmatic atmosphere of a ‘mysterious island in the middle of the Pacific’ thanks to exotic percussion and a whirling flute, while furrowed guitar passages amid ethereal waves of percussion add a touch of modernism. »Monkey Chant« revolves around traditional dance rhythms and the noisy sounds of the Indonesian island of Bali. The guitar improvisation here was played by Tony’s brother David Duhig. »Memories Of A Distant Sea« is another calm ambient treat, with a pastoral flute melody and gentle acoustic guitar chords, and of all the tracks on the album it sounds the most European, or rather British, in its ambience. The dreamy »Quba« also has delicate acoustic guitar variations while the flute slowly builds an ethereal melody. A half-spoken female verse in an unknown African language makes for a lovely closing touch.
»Floating World« was one of the key achievements of these cult pioneers of world and ambient music, and the start of a whole new chapter for Jade Warrior, who were always masters of richly complex, stylistically varied yet remarkably listenable music. In a sea of more or less innovative and talented seventies prog rock bands, their approach was always completely unique. With »Floating World«, which has little to do with rock but was all the more revolutionary for the early popularization of world music and ambient, they made a huge leap forward in maturity, and on the following albums they more or less stuck to the winning formula of this superb record.
Lineup
Tony Duhig – guitar, bass guitar, keyboards, percussion
Jon Field – flute, keyboards, percussion
GUEST MUSICIANS:
David Duhig – guitar on “Monkey Chant”
Graham Decon – drums on “Red Lotus”
Chris Carran – drums on “Clouds I” and “Mountain of Fruit and Flowers”
Colridge Good – acoustic bass guitar
Martha Mdenge – spoken word on “Quba”
Skaila Kanga – harp on “Memories of Distant Sea
Production
Jon Field and Tony Duhig
Track list
1. Clouds I
2. Mountain of Fruit and Flowers
3. Waterfall
4. Red Lotus
5. Clouds II
6. Rain Flower
7. Easty
8. Monkey Chant
9. Memories of Distant Sea
10. Quba
